Thursday, August 13, 2009
Hayward 08042009
Today was my lunch with George. He brought Rooster with him. Ron Anderson, the world's shortest living Norwegian, was a surprise but made for an interesting lunch. We looked at photos of old Customs folks, some still alive, some not. We talked about old times, Iraq, who was decent and who was rotten.
The food was good- I had fish tacos, George had some pasta and Rooster had a burger. Rooster also paid for the whole thing, though George and I popped a bit for the tip.
On the way back, Richie phoned to say he and Kimmie were doing some errands, and did I want to go with? I said sure and met them at the Oakland Museum BART station. Soon's we got to Ikea in Emeryville, the clutch went out. It stuck on the floor, not functioning. We fiddled with it, and it seemed OK. We went inside and got some bedding and a few dishes that we didn't need, but this was Kimmie's idea of what we couldn't live without, so we went home with some dishes and linens. I devised this gimmick to make the clutch work- I tied the tail end of a tie-down strap to the clutch pedal and Richie wore it over his shoulder, so he could pull the clutch up. Mostly he drove home without the clutch. We got the old slave and master cylinders out, and replaced them with Autozone ones for $65. This could have become difficult, but Richie and I work well together. We ate dinner, then they took the 4-Runner to OSH for some grout solvent as a shake-down. Apparently, everything is fine.
Today was my lunch with George. He brought Rooster with him. Ron Anderson, the world's shortest living Norwegian, was a surprise but made for an interesting lunch. We looked at photos of old Customs folks, some still alive, some not. We talked about old times, Iraq, who was decent and who was rotten.
The food was good- I had fish tacos, George had some pasta and Rooster had a burger. Rooster also paid for the whole thing, though George and I popped a bit for the tip.
On the way back, Richie phoned to say he and Kimmie were doing some errands, and did I want to go with? I said sure and met them at the Oakland Museum BART station. Soon's we got to Ikea in Emeryville, the clutch went out. It stuck on the floor, not functioning. We fiddled with it, and it seemed OK. We went inside and got some bedding and a few dishes that we didn't need, but this was Kimmie's idea of what we couldn't live without, so we went home with some dishes and linens. I devised this gimmick to make the clutch work- I tied the tail end of a tie-down strap to the clutch pedal and Richie wore it over his shoulder, so he could pull the clutch up. Mostly he drove home without the clutch. We got the old slave and master cylinders out, and replaced them with Autozone ones for $65. This could have become difficult, but Richie and I work well together. We ate dinner, then they took the 4-Runner to OSH for some grout solvent as a shake-down. Apparently, everything is fine.
Camp Klecker & Dubai 07252009
Got packed last night, so all I had to do is set my alarm for 0610. Got up, showered and dressed and went to the bus stop. On the way, I found my backpack was a bit too stuffed with my Crocs, so I put those into the conex that was taking everyone else's stuff. With a 90% backpack, we hung around until a bit after seven. We rode to Baghdad civilian airport, went through a few security checks, then finally inside. Some waiting, I drank a Diet Pepsi that I stashed, and got on the plane for Dubai. Things were better here. The airport officials all wear white robes, looking a bit civilian. Got cleared through passport control and found a taxi to my hotel. $20 later, I got to the Flora Creek Hotel Apartments. A very nice palce to stay- big one room with a small kitchen and an adequate bathtub. Also a washer/dryer, so I washed my dirty clothes. On the airplane, I kept smelling some bad body odor. I realized that bad smell was coming from me. Apparently I didn't wash my new shirt well enough and it carried some stench in its fibers. I was very happy to put it to wash, even though I didn't understand how to work the machine. The thing has been going for something like six hours and it's not quite done yet. 'Tis eight PM local time. At ten, I've gotta leave, so I'll let it keep going until I have to leave, then I'll either take my dry clothes and pack them or take my damp clothes and pack them.
The hotel has a good TV and lots of channels. I forgot what haji TV can be like. I came into “ET the Extra Terrestrial” with a baby Drew Barrymore and a good story with Elliot and ET. I enjoyed watching this movie a lot. When I get home, and I maybe get a new HDTV, I'd like to get this movie on BlueRay and watch it with Richie, who might remember this movie through some very young eyes.
Now that I've enjoyed this, I'm thinking that I might try to get a dish and park it on top of my hooch so I can watch haji TV from Bucca. But that's grist for next month's mill.
Fox Movies is now showing “Dungeons and Dragons,” a movie that has heretofore escaped my attention. It likely will not be memorable because I think I have about an hour and a half before I go downstairs and check out. The staff here is Filipino and they're very good but a bit slow. So I won't wait until the last minute to get myself ready.
I ordered a room service hamburger, carefully noting that it came with “beef bacon.” 'Twas satisfactory, but not really up to Oakland Grill standards. I'm also thinking of one more quick shower and a shave since it'll be 24 hours till I get another. Would it make a big difference if I went 24 hours or 30 hours between showers? Probably not. But I'm still clean, so rinsing my slightly-funky body might not be necessary. However, a warm shower feels very good. A clean shave would make me feel better, even if the results aren't entirely necessary.
Some good special effects in this movie, though it's a bit over the top in depicting evil, evil lords, and quasi-medieval style. Well, maybe a minute or two longer, then I'll take that shower.
Got packed last night, so all I had to do is set my alarm for 0610. Got up, showered and dressed and went to the bus stop. On the way, I found my backpack was a bit too stuffed with my Crocs, so I put those into the conex that was taking everyone else's stuff. With a 90% backpack, we hung around until a bit after seven. We rode to Baghdad civilian airport, went through a few security checks, then finally inside. Some waiting, I drank a Diet Pepsi that I stashed, and got on the plane for Dubai. Things were better here. The airport officials all wear white robes, looking a bit civilian. Got cleared through passport control and found a taxi to my hotel. $20 later, I got to the Flora Creek Hotel Apartments. A very nice palce to stay- big one room with a small kitchen and an adequate bathtub. Also a washer/dryer, so I washed my dirty clothes. On the airplane, I kept smelling some bad body odor. I realized that bad smell was coming from me. Apparently I didn't wash my new shirt well enough and it carried some stench in its fibers. I was very happy to put it to wash, even though I didn't understand how to work the machine. The thing has been going for something like six hours and it's not quite done yet. 'Tis eight PM local time. At ten, I've gotta leave, so I'll let it keep going until I have to leave, then I'll either take my dry clothes and pack them or take my damp clothes and pack them.
The hotel has a good TV and lots of channels. I forgot what haji TV can be like. I came into “ET the Extra Terrestrial” with a baby Drew Barrymore and a good story with Elliot and ET. I enjoyed watching this movie a lot. When I get home, and I maybe get a new HDTV, I'd like to get this movie on BlueRay and watch it with Richie, who might remember this movie through some very young eyes.
Now that I've enjoyed this, I'm thinking that I might try to get a dish and park it on top of my hooch so I can watch haji TV from Bucca. But that's grist for next month's mill.
Fox Movies is now showing “Dungeons and Dragons,” a movie that has heretofore escaped my attention. It likely will not be memorable because I think I have about an hour and a half before I go downstairs and check out. The staff here is Filipino and they're very good but a bit slow. So I won't wait until the last minute to get myself ready.
I ordered a room service hamburger, carefully noting that it came with “beef bacon.” 'Twas satisfactory, but not really up to Oakland Grill standards. I'm also thinking of one more quick shower and a shave since it'll be 24 hours till I get another. Would it make a big difference if I went 24 hours or 30 hours between showers? Probably not. But I'm still clean, so rinsing my slightly-funky body might not be necessary. However, a warm shower feels very good. A clean shave would make me feel better, even if the results aren't entirely necessary.
Some good special effects in this movie, though it's a bit over the top in depicting evil, evil lords, and quasi-medieval style. Well, maybe a minute or two longer, then I'll take that shower.
Camp Klecker 07202009
'Tis been a couple of days since I wrote here. The trip from Bucca went well. I got on the helo at 2100, got to Ali Al Saleem in an hour or so. I got handed off to a terrific Air Force Tech Sergeant who drove me to the terminal and got me listed on the embassy flight the next morning for BIAP. Of course, I had to sit and wait with a bunch of other people, but we all made the flight at 0500. Got to BIAP around 0800, a young Air Force gal collected our CAC cards and when I was done, I walked the 100 yards or so to the sidewalk. I set my gear down, took my rifle and went out to the parking log. Sure 'nuff, in ten minutes, a blue and white Nissan bus came along with a blue Dyncorp sign in the windshield. I waved at them, asked if they'd wait a second until I got my gear, and one of the guys even came and helped me carry my rucksack. They dropped me off at Klecker around nine AM. I got my linens, signed in and made my bed. I unpacked a bit, grabbed a shower and took myself to the armorer and the rest of the Dyn processing at Camp Butler.
My boss recognized me in the parking lot, so he and I chatted awhile. He gave me the form for every office to initial, and I got done in about an hour. He asked about Greg- told him that Greg was very capable- and Al- told him I saw him in the tent just an hour ago. He didn't like that. I came back to Klecker, did the usual schmoozing and socializing with a few folks I know and met a few more I didn't know.
Comment: That blue and white bus is a good thing. Sure, it's a sort of chore for some new IPAs, but it's a lot more successful than the transportation guys who are both hard to get on the phone and harder to get them to take you anywhere.
I have a sort of routine- sleep in, get cleaned up, go to Sather for an early lunch, come back, do emails and surf awhile, then go to Sather for dinner. Tonight, however was a bit different- I wanted to mail some stuff home, so I took the 1700 Stryker bus; got there after closing for the post office, and I had a bag of stuff I wanted to mail, so the chow hall was a no-go. I had a $7 Burger King dinner instead. Came back, surfed a bit, then had a cigar with some IPAs. Now it's 2300, time for some sleep.
Klecker still feels strange, not quite Iraq, not quite anything wonderful, either.
My boss recognized me in the parking lot, so he and I chatted awhile. He gave me the form for every office to initial, and I got done in about an hour. He asked about Greg- told him that Greg was very capable- and Al- told him I saw him in the tent just an hour ago. He didn't like that. I came back to Klecker, did the usual schmoozing and socializing with a few folks I know and met a few more I didn't know.
Comment: That blue and white bus is a good thing. Sure, it's a sort of chore for some new IPAs, but it's a lot more successful than the transportation guys who are both hard to get on the phone and harder to get them to take you anywhere.
I have a sort of routine- sleep in, get cleaned up, go to Sather for an early lunch, come back, do emails and surf awhile, then go to Sather for dinner. Tonight, however was a bit different- I wanted to mail some stuff home, so I took the 1700 Stryker bus; got there after closing for the post office, and I had a bag of stuff I wanted to mail, so the chow hall was a no-go. I had a $7 Burger King dinner instead. Came back, surfed a bit, then had a cigar with some IPAs. Now it's 2300, time for some sleep.
Klecker still feels strange, not quite Iraq, not quite anything wonderful, either.
A few days till my vacation
Camp Bucca 07162009
Stayed up a bit later than I thought last night. Oh, sure, I couldn't get SimCity4 to work. I clicked on the icon in my start menu, and I got the first little image on my desktop. But instead of the earth bumping up and watching the robot stroll around, the first little image went away. I tried a few times, with no success, so I put Tiger Woods in my CD drive and played three matches. A couple of times I got ino the rough and took ten swings to hit 2 yards each. But I got an couple of birdies and an eagle. And I even sunk a 20-something yard chip.However, it was midnight before I powered down and went to sleep.
This morning, someone knocked on my door. I ignored it. Then a little while later, it was Jeff, so I opened the door- he brought me some cable that's hooked to a satellite dish and now I have limited AFN. Something with the dish. And I don't have a plipper to change channels- I've gotta stand up and push the channel up/down buttons on the decoder box. Might not be the best choice of programs, but I've got something that I didn't have last night.
Jeff was in and out in a minute. After he left, I routed the cable to be in the same place the other cable fit into. In a bit, I'll go see if he wants to get some lunch. I may be unable to sleep till noon any more. Well, I didn't sleep that late before, either. But in a few days, I'll be sleeping comfortably in California.
Stayed up a bit later than I thought last night. Oh, sure, I couldn't get SimCity4 to work. I clicked on the icon in my start menu, and I got the first little image on my desktop. But instead of the earth bumping up and watching the robot stroll around, the first little image went away. I tried a few times, with no success, so I put Tiger Woods in my CD drive and played three matches. A couple of times I got ino the rough and took ten swings to hit 2 yards each. But I got an couple of birdies and an eagle. And I even sunk a 20-something yard chip.However, it was midnight before I powered down and went to sleep.
This morning, someone knocked on my door. I ignored it. Then a little while later, it was Jeff, so I opened the door- he brought me some cable that's hooked to a satellite dish and now I have limited AFN. Something with the dish. And I don't have a plipper to change channels- I've gotta stand up and push the channel up/down buttons on the decoder box. Might not be the best choice of programs, but I've got something that I didn't have last night.
Jeff was in and out in a minute. After he left, I routed the cable to be in the same place the other cable fit into. In a bit, I'll go see if he wants to get some lunch. I may be unable to sleep till noon any more. Well, I didn't sleep that late before, either. But in a few days, I'll be sleeping comfortably in California.
Fourth of July, 2009
Umm Qasr 07042009
Today's the Fourth of July. At breakfast with Jeff, I mentioned to him and SSG Bowman that I'll spend three Fourth of July holidays in Iraq. I arrived in Baghdad last year and I'll be here for the next one, though I'll be really short by the next Fourth.
Eating brekkie was new, I haven't done that in a few weeks. I woke up a bit early, thanks to my alarm. After showering I decided to get some breakfast before our patrol at 0900. I've got about ten minutes before I go to the helipad to meet the rest of our patrol.
I want to watch TV tonight, or maybe tomorrow, when AFN might show the big DC program. We're seven hours ahead, so if the show is on at, say, noon, it'll be seven in the evening for me. Still, I might get to watch last year's show earlier.
Richie said he'll try to spend the Fourth with Bonnie. I wished him good luck, but got a bit negative afterwards. I also suggested that if things go well, maybe all of us could go to the Santa Clara county fair. I doubt she'll be in favor of such an event. Not until she's financially constrained to conduct herself in a friendly manner (because she'll be needing some financial help), I believe she'll continue to be shitty. She can't avoid this- her basic insecurity demands that she be “right.” Being right won't allow her to be wrong; being nice is tantamount to admitting to error. The only way she can continue to be “right” is to continue to remain angry and adamant that she's “right” about her behavior. Yes, it's cyclic, her psychology.
Today's the Fourth of July. At breakfast with Jeff, I mentioned to him and SSG Bowman that I'll spend three Fourth of July holidays in Iraq. I arrived in Baghdad last year and I'll be here for the next one, though I'll be really short by the next Fourth.
Eating brekkie was new, I haven't done that in a few weeks. I woke up a bit early, thanks to my alarm. After showering I decided to get some breakfast before our patrol at 0900. I've got about ten minutes before I go to the helipad to meet the rest of our patrol.
I want to watch TV tonight, or maybe tomorrow, when AFN might show the big DC program. We're seven hours ahead, so if the show is on at, say, noon, it'll be seven in the evening for me. Still, I might get to watch last year's show earlier.
Richie said he'll try to spend the Fourth with Bonnie. I wished him good luck, but got a bit negative afterwards. I also suggested that if things go well, maybe all of us could go to the Santa Clara county fair. I doubt she'll be in favor of such an event. Not until she's financially constrained to conduct herself in a friendly manner (because she'll be needing some financial help), I believe she'll continue to be shitty. She can't avoid this- her basic insecurity demands that she be “right.” Being right won't allow her to be wrong; being nice is tantamount to admitting to error. The only way she can continue to be “right” is to continue to remain angry and adamant that she's “right” about her behavior. Yes, it's cyclic, her psychology.
Moi's happy birthday
Umm Qasr 06172009
Slept in a bit, just long enough to miss brekkie. And I put down my book around ten PM last night, too. I guess I'm sleeping more in my dotage.
Which brings me to the point of today's piece: Today is my sixty-fourth birthday.
No, I didn't make a big deal about it. I had some over-carbed Raisin Bran with a box of cold, full-fat milk. Yep, 57 grams of carbs was too many for my brekkie, but it's my birthday, so I fell off the carb wagon.
I did a quick internet check. Darned Yahoo wouldn't work for me- sure, I could open and delete emails, but I couldn't send emails. And the browsers were really slow to load, too.
Around ten-thirty I came back to my hooch, having put off any productive activity for the first half of the morning. I got out the battery-powered skilsaw and drill, the combination square (curiously, only in metric, not in inches), tape measure (happily in both inches and metric), a large box of grabbers and the big table from the MWR. Then I got the small box of grabbers, my phillips bit holder and a roll of duct tape from my tool drawer. Once I got the table set up, cutting pieces of two-by-four and plywood, pre-drilling and screwing the two-by lumber went quickly. I made one more target holder. At eleven-fifteen, I finished the first one and decided to go as quickly as I could to finish the second one. By a few minutes to noon, I'd finished the tallest one of the bunch. With four finished target holders, I felt pretty good about the time to myself here. But I was all sweaty and covered with sawdust, so a shower felt great. Caution: don't take showers at noon. The cold water is hot and the hot water is scalding. I had to soap up quickly, trying not to get too wet because there was no tepid water, only hot and hotter coming out of the faucets. I dried off, crossed the patio to my hooch and got dressed for lunch. I ate alone, since no POETT people were around and eating alone isn't such an odious chore. After lunch, I cleaned my hooch a bit, then looked at the shower trailer door- it had been dragging on the linoleum and tore a hole so that you couldn't open the door without a lot of pushing and tearing the floor more. I had already seen that the original hinge pins were missing. So I took a door off one of the toilet stalls and stole the hinge pins and hinge pin sleeves from that door. Then I took the trailer door off. I replaced the hinge pin sleeves and hinge pins (well, only two- the top and bottom; the middle one is empty yet) and the door closes very easily- no more dragging. Heck, even the door latch works. I had to fiddle a bit with the toilet stall that was the donor for the hinge pins and sleeves, but I got it back together and I don't think anyone will notice the difference. Mission accomplished!
Feeling good about my day, I went back to the internet where I was once again frustrated by the inability to send emails. I had a good one that I wanted to send to Schaffe. Since I couldn't send it, I copied it to an OpenOffice blank doc and then to my thumb drive. What I had to say to him is in “For me 06172009.”
I made some popcorn and drank a diet Coke while writing “For me 06172009” and keeping an eye on AFN. The MWR isn't such a bad place. I guess one of the reasons I haven't spent much time here is that the MWR isn't “my” place, it's a common area. Spending time in a common area seems less desirable than spending time in your own personal area.
I've got a bit more than an hour till dinner. I expect to eat, visit the gals, give the lads some food, try one more time to see if the internet works, then lay in my rack and watch TV until nine or ten, when I'll try to get some sleep.
Slept in a bit, just long enough to miss brekkie. And I put down my book around ten PM last night, too. I guess I'm sleeping more in my dotage.
Which brings me to the point of today's piece: Today is my sixty-fourth birthday.
No, I didn't make a big deal about it. I had some over-carbed Raisin Bran with a box of cold, full-fat milk. Yep, 57 grams of carbs was too many for my brekkie, but it's my birthday, so I fell off the carb wagon.
I did a quick internet check. Darned Yahoo wouldn't work for me- sure, I could open and delete emails, but I couldn't send emails. And the browsers were really slow to load, too.
Around ten-thirty I came back to my hooch, having put off any productive activity for the first half of the morning. I got out the battery-powered skilsaw and drill, the combination square (curiously, only in metric, not in inches), tape measure (happily in both inches and metric), a large box of grabbers and the big table from the MWR. Then I got the small box of grabbers, my phillips bit holder and a roll of duct tape from my tool drawer. Once I got the table set up, cutting pieces of two-by-four and plywood, pre-drilling and screwing the two-by lumber went quickly. I made one more target holder. At eleven-fifteen, I finished the first one and decided to go as quickly as I could to finish the second one. By a few minutes to noon, I'd finished the tallest one of the bunch. With four finished target holders, I felt pretty good about the time to myself here. But I was all sweaty and covered with sawdust, so a shower felt great. Caution: don't take showers at noon. The cold water is hot and the hot water is scalding. I had to soap up quickly, trying not to get too wet because there was no tepid water, only hot and hotter coming out of the faucets. I dried off, crossed the patio to my hooch and got dressed for lunch. I ate alone, since no POETT people were around and eating alone isn't such an odious chore. After lunch, I cleaned my hooch a bit, then looked at the shower trailer door- it had been dragging on the linoleum and tore a hole so that you couldn't open the door without a lot of pushing and tearing the floor more. I had already seen that the original hinge pins were missing. So I took a door off one of the toilet stalls and stole the hinge pins and hinge pin sleeves from that door. Then I took the trailer door off. I replaced the hinge pin sleeves and hinge pins (well, only two- the top and bottom; the middle one is empty yet) and the door closes very easily- no more dragging. Heck, even the door latch works. I had to fiddle a bit with the toilet stall that was the donor for the hinge pins and sleeves, but I got it back together and I don't think anyone will notice the difference. Mission accomplished!
Feeling good about my day, I went back to the internet where I was once again frustrated by the inability to send emails. I had a good one that I wanted to send to Schaffe. Since I couldn't send it, I copied it to an OpenOffice blank doc and then to my thumb drive. What I had to say to him is in “For me 06172009.”
I made some popcorn and drank a diet Coke while writing “For me 06172009” and keeping an eye on AFN. The MWR isn't such a bad place. I guess one of the reasons I haven't spent much time here is that the MWR isn't “my” place, it's a common area. Spending time in a common area seems less desirable than spending time in your own personal area.
I've got a bit more than an hour till dinner. I expect to eat, visit the gals, give the lads some food, try one more time to see if the internet works, then lay in my rack and watch TV until nine or ten, when I'll try to get some sleep.
